The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Prospects to Pros: 2024 QB class early look, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye & more

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

Prospects to Pros returns with your go-to show for all things NFL Draft, from now until Mr. Irrelevant is called in 2024. Nate Tice joins the show as host this year as he and Dane Brugler kick things off with an overview of the QB class and the players at the top. How good are Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Quinn Ewers compared to previous classes?YouTube - https://youtu.be/xkwVbSA2AccSponsored by Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/mays. Go to shopify.com/mays to take your business to the next level today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show's Prospects to Prospects to Pros. Hello and welcome to Prospects to Pros. I am your host, Nate Tice. And it doesn't matter who the host has been on this show, there's been one mainstay of the show, and that right now is my co-host, Dane Bruegler. I'm so excited to get to the show. And how are you doing today, Dane? I'm doing well.

This is going to be fun, you know, since May, really. I mean, after the last draft, I've gotten tweets almost daily asking, okay, when's Prospects to Pros coming back, you know, what, uh, when Andy, uh, Staples when he left. Oh, so what happens to Prospects to Pros. And well, here we are. Every Wednesday between now and the draft. This is going to be awesome. I, this is actually season four of prospects of pros. You know, last year with Staples. And we've seen, uh, you know, the show grow every year. But this is like, uh, Saul Goodman becoming a part of the cast midway through Breaking Bad. It's like, oh, okay,

we're making a good show even better, and that's what we're doing with you on board here as we talk all things NFL draft. So, I mean, you and I have a lot of conversations about these prospects offline. So, I mean, it makes sense. Let's just hit the record button and, you know, share what we're hearing, what our thoughts are on all these guys and share it with the world. That's exactly it. I've really focused on the pros section, too, which I think will be a lot of fun too. That's why it's all encompassing. So you get kind of my weird brain thrown in here, just waiting to,

we hit like October and November. And I start referring to some random scheme that, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers are running and maybe that's a fit for some receiver I'm watching or something like that. But no, I'm really, once this idea kind of got thrown to me about like us getting together and doing the show, I was like, oh, yeah. It wasn't much a pushback. It was like, yeah, let's do that. That works.

Anyone that's watched our draft shows the last couple of years, that's been a highlight of my entire calendar. I mean, the draft is anyways, but it's been fun doing it. you because not only respect everything that you put into this and and think you're the best of the best, but also just kind of geeking out. I think we had a question one time. Me and you were talking about like draft memories and me and you were talking about, oh, well, Saturday and Sundays it was the best. Like you just sat, you woke up first thing in the morning. You watched it all day and Robert's staring at us like we have 12 heads. Like he's like, I was like, I was at some

restaurant probably in high school. I was getting some Chicago pizza spot. But no, I, if anyone knows in the intro, I wanted to rip the bandaid off and get into it because I, I, I, I, I think this show is going to be great. Right now, we're going to focus on the 2024 QBs. It's a really fun class, not only just the top couple guys, but also just a lot of interesting other prospects that might rise. Some might fall and some might come out of nowhere. And some might just stay the same.

That's how I felt last year's class was. It was, oh, you don't know who will rise. And I think my rankings stayed pretty much verbatim, or the exact same throughout the whole process. Maybe Anthony Richardson rose up at the end there. But no, I think this is going to be a great class. I'm really excited to dive into it. I'll also kind of just get some housekeeping in order.

We're going to talk about other positions next week from this 2024 class. And then after that, we're going to do a little bit of a focus on maybe some second year players and some rookies, some superlatives. And we have some other ideas that we're going to drop in here over the next couple weeks before the season starts. And then once the season starts, we're rolling. We're going week to week. Talk about different prospects, talk about rookies that are happening in the NFL and other young players in the NFL and talk about their journey there. So let's just get this thing going. What's, I don't think, I think anybody that's focused on maybe college football in the draft process, they always hear what is the magic words.

I think you started in your article. Well, next year's quarterback class is even better. And, Dane, would you say that maybe for once that this one is true or would you say, you know, there's a couple names or maybe that it's not that saying kind of gets thrown out the window in regards to maybe Caleb Williams and Drake May. Right. I don't think we're going to need that phrase this year. I mean, it was especially true two years ago when we had a historically below average quarterback class. One quarterback drafted in the first 73 picks. That was Kenny Pickett.

But even last year, when we really liked Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and these guys, all eyes were still on Caleb Williams and Drake May. Well, here we are. Now they are after the season. They will be draft eligible. And talking towards next year's class, there's a lot of excitement. And not only those two guys at the top, but a couple other intriguing underclassmen, which we'll get to,

and then a really, really deep senior class. I mean, I'll just kind of put this out there now. Do you know what the record is for the most quarterbacks drafted in a seven-round draft? Oh, no. 14? You're close. It's 17.

When the draft moved from 12 rounds, seven rounds in like 94. It's like 92. Yeah, yeah. Since then, so we're talking 30 years. It was that 04 class, which had Eli Manning, Rivers, Rothesburg are at the top. But then, you know, day three was, to your point, earlier point, day two was full of those mid-to-late-round quarterbacks, the Jim Sorjees of the world.

Yeah. But. Don't forget J.P. Lowe's been in there, right? Wasn't he Q before that class? He was, yeah. But this year, it's going to be interesting. interesting because last year we had 14 quarterbacks drafted. This year, I have no doubt, we're going to finish with upwards of 20 quarterbacks with draftable grades. Now it's just a matter

of will there be enough teams willing to use a draft pick on those guys. But this is a class that has a chance to, and the other classman, that'll determine a lot too, who comes out, who goes back for their senior year. But the potential of this quarterback class is a chance to see a lot of these guys off the board. It'll be really interesting. But to your point, it all starts with those first two quarterbacks at the top. Yeah, I mean, even you do such a great job with kind of your primer, I guess, articles in the summer for each position and one of my favorite reads of the summer because it's it's not just a, oh, let's have a breakdown of Marvin Harrison Jr. And that's it. It's like actually, you know, depending on the position you're talking about, you get into the weeds of so maybe

some guys that even knew to a guy like me who's a full on nerd with some stuff or others there or kind of draft nicks going into all this stuff. And I mean, your senior list, like kind of your watch list, I guess, is what, what, 25 guys? And that's just your seniors, I'm including the underclassman. And when putting together kind of, I might Google Doc and I was kind of right now my big board to start out in May and just who I'm going to start watching throughout the summer, I felt like the quarterback just kept going on and on and on. And I was like, oh, yeah, that guy.

Oh, yeah, this guy transferred. He might be interesting. Oh, yeah, this guy, I liked him last year, you know, Tyler Van Dyke from Miami. who was a guy on my short list last year is like an afterthought going into this year. We might talk about them later. But just that's like a perfect example for me anyways of going, this guy was on the short list last year is now in the honorable mentions of this year. You mentioned transfers of my top 20 seniors, 17 transferred at least once.

Wow. Some of them multiple times. The only ones I think of the top 20 that did not transfer were Michael Pratt. Tulane, KJ Jefferson, Arkansas, and Grayson McCall, Coastal, Carolina. But he was even in the transfer portal, just decided to go back to coastal. So it's a different world at the position. And with this year, you have a lot of sixth year guys because of the COVID year. So it's just kind of a perfect storm of all of this that's going to make this a very deep

quarterback class, but also intriguing at the top when we have some of these underclassmen that warrant first round discussion. Yeah, let's talk about one of those underclassmen that also transferred. So it kind of knocks out both talking points right then there. And that's Caleb Williams from USC. And I think anyone, Caleb Williams, I'm sorry, from USC. And I think anyone that has any inkling of football knowledge is aware of Caleb Williams. One, the high has been last year.

And also just it was on everybody's radar, I think right away from some huge national performances, some trick shot throws that he was going in there. I also think it's nice for me because I've really trained my brain to not focus maybe on guys that aren't draft eligible. And I got like Caleb Williams and even the guy we're about talking about to Drake May, they kind of made you watch them because you're watching the receivers that they're throwing to. And those guys are draft eligible. And you're like, man, did you see that throw? And you're like, I'm taking videos and screenshots at the quarterback. And I'm like, and I'll send them, I would go through 20 plays.

I'm like, oh, shoot, I got to watch Jordan Addison. And totally forgot that. That's who I'm supposed to be studying right now. But when you watch Caleb Williams, and I know you kind of put a 1A, 1B on these two, on Drake May and Caleb Williams. But when you watch Caleb Williams right now, like, as a prospect, what gets you excited about him? I know there's been some hyperbole, but like, just look through the scouting lens or what makes it so highly, it makes them so highly graded for you and probably other evaluators that watch them.

Yeah, I think the list is long of reasons why Caleb gets you excited about what he's going to be at the next level. I think the number one thing for me is the poise playmaking. But there were numerous plays on last year's tape where I'm just laughing out loud because of the absurdity of what he's doing. First, the awareness and vision are rare. It allows him to negotiate the rush, create with his legs. He's shorter than ideal, but he's well built. He's strong. And that helps him shrug off tacklers and break those tackles. Think about him standing next to Anthony Richardson. There's a huge size difference here, but Williams had only three fewer forced mistackles last year than Richardson, which says a lot about his elucinness. So that first part of the equation, the vision, the awareness, the second part is the arm talent.

I mean, you mentioned some of these trick shots that he's making out there. There would be some obvious comparisons to Bryce Young as a prospect last year because of the feel, the ability to create. but where Williams has a clear advantage over last year's number one overall pick is the power in his arm. He has a knack for staying balanced and maintaining his base regardless of the platform, and he can fire these accurate lasers all over the field. And that is where we start to hear the Pat Mahomes comps really come in. And is it unfair to compare a college prospect to the best player in the NFL, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history?

of course, but stylistically, you think about how Mahomes plays and you can understand why we're going to hear that conversation or that comparison over and over the next eight months. So playing quarterback is all about having answers to the different problems that defense presents. And Caleb, he's got such a unique skill set that he consistently finds answers to all those problems that that defense has tried to throw at you. I love the mistackle stat because when you watch him as a thrower and a runner, it's balance. And not only just it's balanced in a way like, okay, it's contact balance, you know, through the, through the guys, through the tacklers, the defenders and arm tackles and everything. He's bouncing off guys spinning, always getting north. It's remarkable, really. But also just what you're saying, throwing off platform and the fact that he can, it's not balanced in a way because he's not throwing it on a balance like.

where he's perfectly set, but he can still get that torque in those throws. I said the only way I can compare is like throwing style. He's like a dart thrower. And usually when people say dart throws is about accuracy, and he is accurate. But just if you're picturing, no one is what maybe if you're seeing this on YouTube right now, you can see me my little visual here. But when a guy throws a dart, it's just from the elbow upwards, you know, elbow to the fingertips.

And that's the fact that he can create so much torque just with that and so much zip on the ball while throwing off balance, it's, it is remarkable. That is what gets me excited personally watching him. I think he checks all the boxes. He doesn't have that maybe overwhelming arm strength or anything like that, but it checks the box. Like it's plenty. It's NFL good.

Like it's not where it's not even like, oh, flashes of good. There'll be a guy I'll talk about later. But it's like, nope, he makes that benchmark where you don't even have to worry about it. You know,

so that's what's really cool. It's that package of being a true thrower of the football, a true passer while kind of getting there sometimes from the pocket, but also just the creating contorting. And if you watch any NFL quarterback, these top guys, that's what you need. It's throwing off balance and throwing from tight pockets and changing that arm angle.

And he's already doing it over and over again in huge moments, too. It's not like he's just doing it against some FCS school early in the year. He's doing it in the PAC 12, well, RIP PAC 12, but the Pac-12 championship game or just like these big moments in the fourth quarter. And it's like, that's what you want to see. If you're going to give a guy a big grade, that's that's kind of these are the boxes you want to check for a guy that has a big great and having said all that all these positives unless you have any more that you want to

throw in there um no i just say throw on the utah games both utah games throw on a notadame game you know like teams that have players on the defense that at least have a shot at the next level um and he's still making these plays and i think that will maybe as we talk about where he needs to improve that kind of you know because there are some ways you know initially when I was watching him I jotted down some notes where he's too willing to make throws uh in reverse or without completely settling his feed and you know as I'm writing these notes down as potential negatives tape after tape I'm realizing okay you know what it's working for him so right it's not something that detriment yeah it's not something where I need to see him improve this because it works and I

that goes back to lessons learned with a guy like a guy like a Papa Holmes, who for me personally, he's going to go down as one of my biggest misses as a prospect. His backyard style of playing football at Texas Tech was often reckless. And it just created so many. It was obnoxious at times. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It just created questions. You know, can this translate? Can he do this against NFL competition? Yeah. And it just felt like a big, you know, this big chasm he would have to leap to get there. But obviously, you know, he was able to do it and do it at a high level. that taught me about having more of an open mind, especially for special players.

And I think Caleb qualifies. And I'm not throwing out that S word, that special word, just willy-nilly. This is something that I really believe after watching him is he belongs in that special category. And when it works for you and it's not creating more problems, you embrace it. You go with it because it is creating problems for the defense.

And so initially what was a negative for me, me really turned out to be a positive for him. I'm 100% with you. I used to be Mr. I wanted all my quarterback prospects to look like Jared Gough. Right. Like I wanted them to sit in the pocket, throw intermediate, and just knife, knife defenses up.

And there was a line. I want to say it was Jordan Palmer that said. And Robert, Robert Mays will say this line a couple times was, I think Jordan Palmer said it was like, Jared Gough is the last quarterback to look like that. That'll go number one overall. Like his play style. And it's like, but that was kind of,

it was just the idea of, that and that's i used to be the same way it's like oh there's too much creation and everything and that kind of a home's comparison was gone thrown around the last couple years you know zach wilson was getting at a bunch and i understand the the trick shot aspect and there's that kind of down to down stuff and this is why i kind of pound over the table about mohomes as an NFL player is the boring stuff that he does well then that's what makes him mohomes is that high floor now on top of all the crazy stuff that he can do Williams does that which that's why i'm more i'm never going to compare anyone to my home. It's just like such an anomaly. But with the idea that people

are trying to get across, I totally get. It's that kind of trick shot element is it's, it's easier to wean that down and get that out of guys as opposed to making a guy be more aggressive and be, make them like, hey, come on, can you just try to throw it over the middle or try to throw this off balance or are you just going to always check it down left and right? And like that's I, that's one thing I've really come around for. I much rather have the wild horse type than the guy that's maybe a little too perfect with everything. But if we are talking about negatives or weaknesses or room for improvement, are there any other ones that maybe you have kind of a,

or kind of earmarked or something that you just want to see on this next year? You know, coming off the Heisman season, like what other growth that maybe he can check to make you feel even better about Williams? Yeah, I mean, I think my main issue with Caleb was something, something I think he can improve on this year. And that's just progression timing. I think a lot of times he is guilty of relying on his legs a little too much. much, that creativity that we love about him.

That controlled chaos, it's self-induced a lot of times because of, you know, the timing from read to read is inconsistent. He's more than willing to invite that pressure into the pocket. Last year, only two FBS quarterbacks saw more defensive pressures than Williams. Part of that was the offensive line wasn't very good. It was average at best. Another part, it was his tendency to hold the ball, linger on reads too long. So you love the creativity, the talent, that bail.

him out time after time, but you also want to see fewer hits on his body. You want to see him take the layup if it's there. It's not always about hitting the home run, especially on first down. So I think all the things that, or a lot of the things that we like about him, some of that he can reel back a little bit. And I think a lot of that comes with maturation, with experience. And maybe this is also where we talk about Lincoln Riley's offense, right? I mean, there's no doubt. Don't you worry. I was going to bring it up. Yeah, exactly. And it's something that, He'll be dinged throughout the process. There's no doubt Caleb benefits from the scheme, right?

I mean, there's a lot of RPO's, counters, swing screen, slants, Y-cross. I call money plays. There's a lot of money plays. Right. And Riley, I mean, he's one of the most well-prepared offensive coaches I've ever scouted. And you rarely see him caught off guard by what the defense is doing. So I think the melding of Riley's offensive brain and Caleb's poise playmaking and you've got fireworks. So now, and I don't think either entity here is reliant on the other to be successful.

And I think that's important. But I think that's how NFL teams are going to see it too. But does Riley his offense, does it make things easier on a quarterback? Yes, there's no doubt about that. But I don't think that's necessarily a reason to doubt what Caleb can do. on his own or even in a different scheme in the NFL. That is always the question. It's the can't or won't.

Is it because he can't do it or is it they just won't let him do it? Or just, you know, all those questions. And that's, I was going to bring up for my kind of things I want to see this year. And that's being in the Lincoln rally, when I say the money play offense is kind of, you know, that's part of what I want to see improve. I want to see maybe that I already brought it up, but that ability to progress. in the pocket just consistently. I see flashes of Caleb Williams in the pocket moving.

And it's like, okay, that's good. At least you're doing it. And then he'll bail. And then a couple of plays later, then you'll bail quickly. And I'm like, ah, you had a guy coming over, Caleb. Like, just wait, wait that extra half second in there. But it's not always where it's like a big red alert for me, like where I've seen other guys a couple years ago, Malik Willis.

Like every time I watched him, these guys couldn't be any further apart. But Malik Willis, I'm watching him. It was like any type of pressure. he was gone. And that that is a huge, because it only gets tougher in the NFL. So I agree with you that that some things I want to see clean up is the ability to kind of just hang in the pocket. But again,

that might be a can or won't thing with that offense. And that's the thing is, I also want to say is I'm glad he brought up that maybe, you know, not taking those hits and being the big game hunter at sometimes. Do you think that what he's listed right now is what, 6-1-21-15? Do you,

what do you think what his measurements might actually be at? Do you think he gets to the 6-1 mark or is it more of a, 6058, 208 type situation with him. Yeah, I don't have any type of verified measurements on him. So I'm interested to find out exactly what he is, especially come draft time. I mean, Bryce Young was a buck 88 for most of the season in Alabama. And he shows up the combine at 204. And it's like, oh, okay, he's going to be a 200-pound quarterback now.

And pass on the pro day way in. Yeah, right. And I bet you won't get him on a scale right now in training Canada, Carolina. And that's fine. You know what? It is what it is. But yeah, probably he's going to be a hair under 6-1 right around probably in between but 215, 220, probably I'd say 218, something like that. I mean, that's almost big, that's like a bigger deal to me than the height is the weight because the height doesn't knock him at all.

He sees over the middle and he throws over the middle. So I'm not like, that's why I'm not too worried about it, but it's the weight that I am kind of curious about. And I think one other thing we need to mention too with Caleb is this upcoming season, no more Jordan Addison. a first round pick. So, you know, you lose a big talent there. But the wide receiver depth chart there is still pretty deep. There's a lot of guy. They added Dorian Singer, a transfer from Arizona.

He's got some, he's a smaller receiver, but he's got big time ball skills. So I don't think that talent drop off on offense is going to be anything that should necessarily hurt him this year, which maybe could be something that hurts the next guy we're going to talk about. Right. Let's jump right in. I do want to say one last thing with Caleb Williams, too, is that he's used to that Lincoln Riley offense.

The rest of his teammates weren't. They didn't transfer from, not all of them didn't transfer from Oklahoma. So I do think that the rest of his teammates are going to get a little bump up as they get comfortable in that kind of unique offense he runs. But I loved your segue there. And that'll be the one B of this conversation. Might be my 1A. Spoiler is.

My way is. It is my 1A. It is my 1A. But I'll have, I don't want to steal any thunder yet. But that is Drake May from North Carolina. Let's talk about why is Drake May? Caleb Williams has got a lot of hoopla around. I've won the Heisman.

He is getting put on pyramids as like already the fifth best NFL quarterback right now. And he's not even in the NFL right now. So what about the guy that Drake May is now being considered the one being. And I think a lot of people are shocked that anyone could even be in the same tier as Caleb Williams. So when you're watching him as an evaluator, what is there to like about Drake May from North Carolina? There are some really smart quarterback minds in the NFL who think May is the top quarterback prospect this year. So trust me, you're not alone. That makes me feel a lot better, by the way.

No, it's a real thing. Okay. I mean, I personally, I give the edge to Caleb just for everything we just talked about. But May is, man, he's fun to watch. And it just a lot of what you want at a quarterback, like that prototypical skill set, he has. You want size, check, arm strength, check, mobility, check. I mean, you just keep going down the list and you end up with a lot of checkmarks. So that release is clean.

It's explosive, especially on those three-step drops. Downfield touches there. I like that his tape has almost the full inventory of throws that you want to see in terms of translating to the next level. I don't think he gets enough credit for how agile he is, especially in the pocket. He's really, really smart. I mean, last year was his first as a starter, first year as a starter. And you could see him make some big boy reads. based on the leverage of the safety, based on the coverage shells.

I don't think he's quite on Justin Herbert's level, but if you liked Herbert as a prospect, I mean, there's no reason why you won't like me. Boy, do I have a quarterback for you? Yeah, right. So why is he your 1A? What is it that gives him a little bit of the edge over Caleb? Like everything you just kind of hinted at,

he checks a lot of those boxes, the size, And I do think I think he might even be a better athlete than Cable Williams, which is kind of shocking. I think he's extremely explosive. You see him eating ground as a runner and he's got good vision as a runner, which is kind of surprising for like a quarterback at that size. And he's like setting up blocks and stuff. And it's like, oh, that's cool. Everything you mentioned, I think he has, I would say good with flashes of very good arm strength. I don't know if I would give him a seven, you know, on the old grading scale, but he's close to it.

I did learn one thing. It was like you round down with those grades. So that way it makes it special when you do give a guy like a very good grade. But he has flashes of that. What you said about pushing the ball down field is what I love. He makes those big boy throws. He throws with touch and layers it. So he has every type of throw in his arsenal.

And it's not theory where it's like, oh, he has a big arm, but he never completes one. It's like, no, he's completing intermediate throws where he gets over the linebacker. He's pushing it down the field and the go ball. I think watching him in the red zone is so much fun because of some of the throws, the high lows that he makes and that quick twitch in such a big frame. I love his pocket movement already. He's tough as I'll get out. Once we talk about the negatives, I'll get into that as well. But this guy, the offense line was garbage last year.

And he is making throw after throw after throw. And what you're saying is it's good to hear about maybe the IQ stuff checking because that's what it looks like on film is his ability kind of, he's, progresses and it's quick. And it's kind of that it's not the exaggerated one to two to three. It's you can see him glance and come off stuff and get to two and three, which is very encouraging for a guy with not a lot of starts. So there is just, he checks everything I like. I'm always going to be a sucker for size and athleticism skill sets. But the guy has the kind of intangibles that I like as far as toughness, accuracy and also just the intelligence from the pocket. But my one stat I had with him was he was the fourth most pressure quarterback. This is from SIS,

sports info solutions. Fourth most pressure quarterback among FBS quarterbacks with 200 more pass attempts. And he had the same rate of catchable passes as Bryce Young while pushing the ball further. And he had the same boom bust rate that SIS has as Bryce Young, like literally the exact same numbers, all like 0.1% of some weeks.

So he's throwing like Bryce Young, but he's bigger, probably faster. And like, you know, so it's a very, very intriguing, intriguing package that just, yeah, it makes me, makes me very excited. But when you watch them, what are some negatives that maybe crop up for you. I know there's one that is my big one. I see him get better at it, but I want to hear

that maybe anything else that you've seen. For me, I think the one main area I'm going to be focusing on with May this year is just the lower body mechanics. When his throws are off target, you can usually point to his footwork as being the culprit. We talked about this with Caleb, how it doesn't always have to be perfect in terms of his base. He finds a way to stay balanced with his accuracy, whether he's in the pocket or he's changing an arm angle outside the pocket, his accuracy is pretty much the same. There's not a big, any big change. With May, I think with his footwork, that's where, and he has athletic feet, like you mentioned,

he has quiet feet, but sometimes he relies on his upper half, a little too much. It relies on that arm. His feet get lazy. And when you have an arm like that, you know, it's hard to blame him. But sometimes you need to reset the base to use your hips, square, drive. I wouldn't call this a major problem. I think it's something that needs to be cleaned up, something that as he gets another year under his belt in college,

something that he'll get better at, but something that I'll be looking for this year. Yeah. For me, it was especially late in the year, they went through a little skid was, I mentioned that the North Carolina offense line wasn't great. Sometimes he would make a bad play worse, and he would bail backwards.

the pocket, which is kind of, that's in the NFL, that's a no, no. You cannot do that. And already seeing it in college a little bit. And I give him some benefit of the doubt. It was more when it was like, really, they had a couple bad drives in a row. The defense gave up a couple touchdowns. So he's trying to make something happen. And he starts bailing backwards. And then the defenders just hook around and get them. And it's a 12 yard sack as opposed to maybe, okay, getting back to the line of scrimmage or get rid of the ball. I think that is very extremely fixable. But it is something that I want to see. improvement on is because there will be times where he's taking two on one drive and the drive's dead after they just move the ball down because he's just taking a bad sack. I wouldn't say he's loose

with a ball or anything like that. It's just more taking too many yards on the sacks is the number one thing. And that to me is a, okay, my guard just got beat 10 times in a row. I'm not stepping up. I'm not taking another shot to the chin. They're playing Georgia State. I watched Georgia State North Carolina film and Georgia State is destroying their offensive line. And I was like, that's Georgia State. That's nothing. And then that was early in the year. And they kind of got a little better.

And at the tail end of the year, they kind of faded again. So that's one thing I really do want to see. I'm glad he brought up the footwork too. I do see it sometimes where he like default, he like tries a trick shot things without needing to because I, and that's why I say the lazy feet. He just, he just goes, oh, I'm just going to flick it with my arm. And it's like, ah, just you have, you have space in the pocket. Get your feet around and just, you know, take that extra half second. So I agree with that point as well.

So talked about these. Real quick, too. We mentioned no Jordan Addison. Okay, no Josh Downs. Yes. I think it was 117, 116 targets last year. New office coordinator? Yeah, exactly.

That's going to be a big change. Phil Longo, now up in Madison with your badgers. Yeah. Which is shocking some people, by the way. Seeing a modern offense in Madison, Wisconsin is kind of throwing some people off right now. It's kind of like a, okay, Phil Longo, who has a history of productive offenses, but I wouldn't necessarily call him or his offense is complicated or, you know, like necessarily the best offense.

It's all about one-on-ones. Prepare quarterbacks for the next level, right? So I'm eager to see what May is going to look like with this new offense, which it's under Chip Lindsay, who, you know, longtime college offensive coordinator. It should be a little more balanced, maybe a little more refined. So that'll be interesting to see how that works out. The receiver to watch, I think, is going to be DeVontes Walker, transfer from Kent State.

Someone's got to catch all these passes. Walker is a name to keep an eye on a chance to really blow up as this season goes on. That's good to know. I love when you see a quarterback transition to a new offense because then maybe see different types of throws and how he handles it. And that's what turned me on to May. At first time, I watched him on TV throughout the year. It was like, on that offense, you're just chucking up go balls.

And then you got downs on a win route on the middle. And it's like, okay, that doesn't take. a lot and I appreciate him more on film because then you got to see his eyes and see him actually come off throws. And that's where I was like, oh, okay. You're not just a game, you're not just a gameed up quarterback that we talk about other guys. The other two things that mentioned with these two guys, we don't, okay, neither one of us

have actually spent days with them to fully understand them as people. But what I've been told from people that have is they both. have that FU energy, that competitiveness that you need from your quarterback. If you're going to play at the high level and you're going to lead, especially what has to do, that's something that made Bryce Young the number one pick last year. I was just going to say that. Yeah, that quiet confidence about him. He was ready with the intangibles.

You know, I think Caleb a lot was made last year with the nail polish and what he put on the nail polish and things like that. But as long as everybody, everyone in that locker room is looking up to you as the guy that's going to go out and lead us to battle, that's all the matters. And do you know who protected his blindside in high school? No, I didn't.

A guy we'll be talking about next week. Olu Foshanoo. Oh, in Maryland, that's right. Yeah, so who will be one of the first players drafted this year, offensive tackle at Penn State. I mean, he has nothing but positive things say about Caleb and just the way he carries himself, the person that he is, the player that he is, the leader that he is.

So, you know, it's something that will learn more and more throughout the process, just these guys as people and they're intangible, things like that. But the early feedback from from scouts and people that have been spent time around them has been, you know, nothing but positive about both these guys. It's such an important point. Especially when you're taking these guys, you know, potentially. top five, top 10. Like, these guys are the franchise.

It's, they're anointed. They have to be the hardest worker. And so it's good to hear that. I figured May with his kind of his athletic family, you know, I feel like he had some competitiveness to him, probably got beaten up by his brothers a little bit. And then with Williams, it's, for me, it's weird, you know, having painted fingernails, like weird isn't bad. If you're a hard worker and you're like a baller and you're tough, guys don't care.

Like, they just see you. They know you're scoring points for them. they are going to love that. So it's all about, hey, once you get to the pros, are you a professional and carrying this team? They'll be all for it. How do you stack these two up, Caleb Williams and Drake May,

compared to other quarterbacks that you've studied, like recent history or even further along, if you like, it could be the last five years, 10 years, 20 years. I know you've been watching the draft since you were in the womb. So since then,

it could be, you don't have to say generational or anything like that, but just kind of a frame of reference that maybe the tier that these two guys are in. Yeah, and I think this is, right now the grades are incomplete, right? I mean, we still have a full season to evaluate. So, I mean, I've been doing this professionally for 15 years.

The highest grade for a quarterback that I ever gave out was Andrew Luck. And then the second highest grade I ever gave out for a quarterback was Joe Burrow. Third was Trevor Lawrence. So I think Williams has a chance to be somewhere in that top three. maybe knocking Lawrence out of there. Whether it's one, two, or three, we'll have to see. You know, based on how the season plays out and the more evaluation we do, the player. But just based off of watching six or seven tapes this summer,

he has that type of potential, that type of ability to get into that top three. For me, you know, obviously, this is something we'll revisit maybe midseason than at the end of the season. But, I mean, it says a lot that we're even talking about it right now. And I mean, who knows? I'm not going to put anything in stone right now. Maybe May could even pass him for me. Maybe I join you in thinking May is the top guy this year. But I'm interested to hear your perspective on this because sometimes we can get, you know, so caught up in the moment that, oh, this is the best.

You know, he's a franchise guy, generational guy, you know, that those words get thrown out so easily. But for you, based off quarterbacks, quarterback prospects that you've seen, you've studied, where does he fall in line for you? So I've been officially doing this where I'm actually watching the studying guys since the 2014 draft. But I got to watch luck a little bit because we played some teams when I was in college. We played against that they played against Stanford. So like luck, college luck is in my brain. But like I would say officially studying, Trevor is my number one. You know, but if I included luck, luck was the best I've ever seen.

But I'd say officially officially it's Trevor. And then I kind of have like a half gap. and then it's like, Burrow is two, and then it's like, it's May Williams right after that. So I put it as in the last decade as like my official line here is that these two are both in the top five, any way you shake it. Which is, I mean, it's, yeah, you look at some of these past classes, guys that went one too, golf and Wentz went one too. And it's like these guys as prospects to me, I know that's hindsight's everything, but even as prospects, these guys are easily a full tier better. and when I watch those guys. Winston, Marriota.

Yes. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting when you include last year's class because we, I mean, the top three guys that were drafted last year are all in the top five. I think both of us really like those guys, but they're just not quite on the same level as we like these two. Yeah. I put it as in kind of just my own brain.

It's nothing official like that in a scouting system or anything. But like a top 10 grade is like, okay, that's a true blue top 10 grade. that's like as high as I can really give everyone. Like Trevor I gave like basically, yeah, it's number one pick. That's like the highest I can go. It's like both of these guys are easy top 10 picks to me. It's not squinting. There's no inflation because they're a quarterback.

While I would say Stroud Young and even Richardson, who I was really high, and I had like lottery pick grades on, which is basically, oh, I'm comfortable taking them in the top 20. Half round inflation becomes the top 10, yada, yada, but that's kind of how I differentiate it because it's like, no, these two borough, Trevor, and I'd have to maybe think I can't think of the fifth right off top of my head. Those are like really the only guys I've given true blue top 10 grades to you. So it's that kind of just sets it right there.

Like how highly I view both of these guys. Even if I prefer me a little bit, I still think Williams is just fantastic as well. That's why it's going to be so much fun. This is not this is not like a one of us going like, wow, really? Like a hot take here. It's like these two are just, these two are fantastic. But okay, we got these two out of the way. So as of right now, it's August 9th when this episode is going to come out.

Who is your QB3? going into we were just starting training camp for colleges, starting fall camp, but right now, who's your QB3? So in my quarterback preview, which I appreciate you mentioning earlier, going position by position, we're on linebackers coming out tomorrow, so we're almost done. But quarterback, so yeah, almost a month now came out, and at the time, J.J. McCarthy was my quarterback three. But this is going to be a fluid conversation throughout the season. You know, theoretically, McCarthy has everything you want in a quarterback, the tools, the intangibles. Now it's just a matter of consistency.

Putting the offense in times where he has to put him on his shoulders, he can do that. Carry the offensive needed. It gets a little complicated with this Michigan offense because they're going to rely on the run game. That's going to be the focus of what they do. That's what Jim Harbaugh wants to be. And it's tough to blame them considering they have one of the best running back duos in the country. Blake Coram is awesome. Exactly.

The offensive line is outstanding, especially in the run game. So, you know, at some point, I mean, you have to look at it and say, you know, okay, Jim Harbaugh, he doesn't need to rely on McCarthy to win him games. But he also has to realize he has a revving Ferrari at quarterback that, you know, people want to see you unleash this. guy. So, I mean, we saw it a little bit against Ohio State. We saw a little bit, the Purdue game. All three of his touchdown passes on the Purdue tape were awesome. TCU was a little bit of a mixed bag. He had the two pick sixes, but he also had a lot of positive things on that tape as well. So with McCarthy, I'm just, I'm really excited for what he could

continue to grow into, develop into. It's just I'm a little cautious about, are we going be able to see that. It also factor in Michigan's non-conference scheduled this year's not good. It's terrible. The Big Ten, I mean, there are some really good defenses in the Big Ten. I think, you know, the Penn State game, Ohio State game are going to be fun. But outside of that, I don't know, I mean, Illinois lost quite a bit, but they still have some guys returning. I just don't know if we're going to be able to see enough where Michigan's going to be in position where they need the quarterback to bail them out. So I think there's a, and this is assuming. he comes out after this year, we might still be at a position where we're still trying to learn

who J.J. McCarthy is. And that's not ideal for a quarterback you're potentially thinking about taking in the first round. So as of right now in August, I'm going to say J.J. McCarthy, but I think this is where, you know, that first tier is the first two guys. The second tier is just you've got a group of really intriguing underclassmen who any one of them would not surprise. me if they ended up as that quarterback three and maybe even pushed to be considered in that, you know, that top tier. I don't think they'll get there, but at least be considered. But, I mean, who is your, where we sit right now?

Who is your quarterback three? I think I know the ACC quarterback. It's an ACC quarterback. I'm very excited for a tobacco road matchup this year because I have Riley Leonard from Duke. This is my quarterback four. So I'm right there with you. I was glad to see that. that I he was a a guy that I noticed on TV last year and then was like okay I'm going to watch

the offense tackle anyways and then I ended up watching Riley letter the entire time um just yeah I'll talk about real quick I'm going to go with the McCarthy real quick my notes on him I kind of cool he was like he before when we last talked I maybe cooled on him and maybe moved him to five another guy bumped for me uh everything you're talking about it's that he misses like he'll have only like a couple throws that I'm like that I want to see maybe like like a sail route, which is like a deep corner route, but he throws like once every two games because they don't need to throw that ball. And if he misses it, and it's one of those that's like, I don't want to ding them because it's like, I only see him throw it once. And if he misses it,

it's like, okay, he's 0 for one on that when another guy throws it maybe 15 times. And I get to see those reps. It was kind of like Richardson a little bit last year where he finished the game with 16 pass attempts. And so you really have to extrapolate everything you're seeing and trying to squint and everything and maybe see, okay, how's the footwork look, okay? How does his eyes look and look at all the intangibles? So I'm just, I'm with you. I just need to see more tape of him, but that's the thing. It's Michigan's offense.

So it's like I still might be wanting more by the time December hits. But he is a good athlete and there are some flash throws that I really like. But Riley Leonard, though, from Duke is first and foremost, I love his accuracy. That guy puts the ball on the money time and time again, off platform, on the move, short intermediate. I will say the Duke offense. And I texted you this kind of infuriates me because they throw so much quick game. And it's just like, oh, after a while, it's like push the ball down. It's tired of us seeing these stick routes and these crossing routes. Let me see some. And so when you do see some red zone throws, you highlighted this clip too. And I think I tweeted it like as I was watching

him was it was a little double move that he throws a little slug, a little slant and go route and seeing him quickly reset and throw that ball. Perfect placement. And that's the, type of throws that he does over and over and over. It's not an accident. And on top of it, he's got good height. He's got longish frame. He's still probably, he looks like he's like too 10ish,

but it looks like he can grow a little bit into that frame, which makes me excited. And he's a good athlete. This dude can run. Like, legit, take it to the house when he's running. He's an awkward runner. Probably four or five speed, right? That's what it looks like.

Yeah, he's built weird. Like, I don't know. It doesn't look fast and you see him running. And all of a sudden, he's just going for 20 yards. He's taking it to the house. I've got, uh, So this spring, he was six, three, and five eighths, two hundred and eleven pounds. So right where you're saying, he has the frame.

It's just he doesn't necessarily have maybe the weight you want to see yet. But I think he can put it on. It's kind of like how Stroud was. Like Stroud in 2021, it's like, okay, you're a little skinny. It looked like you put on maybe like seven pounds, you know, eight pounds. Because he has those longer arms, same big hands. So I think the same thing with Leonard. He can get that 220.

I think he'll be good there. It's not the end all, be all because he is. is a good athlete. Just like him in the pocket, he's balanced too. Sometimes, once in a while, we'll try and make a little too much happen, but he has a great clock in his head. He's been coached very well getting the ball out and his eyes are really good. I have a true first round grade on him right now, which is shocking. Going into the process, I didn't think I would. I thought it was just going to be the top two guys and then maybe a little gap. I think his arm strength is more above averageish with flashes of good. So I will say that's when I was referring to that earlier. This is

the guy I'm talking about. But he wins with accuracy and timing and he's, he can throw off platform. He's a good athlete. He's got a little Johnny Knoxville to him where he, he'll, he's running the ball. He'll helicopter into the end zone.

He's not scared to take a hit. He's, he's a, he's a competitor. So I'm very excited to watch Leonard this year. He was really grew on me as I watched him. I ended up just like keep bumping them up. Every game I watch.

I'm watching five games on him. And I just, I just really like his kind of all package as a player. And I think he still has room to grow. You think about what do. was two years ago. I mean, they were a dumpster fire. I mean, they won.

They had three wins on the season. You know, bring in Mike Elko as head coach, kind of an afterthought. When you think about Duke football, they won nine games last year. And Leonard as the quarterback, first year as a starter, he was a big reason why. He had 33 total touchdowns. I mean, he was third in the ACC in total offense. I mean, what he was able to do with maybe some. some supporting cast that there's not a ton of NFL players out there on that Duke offense.

There's a couple, but not a ton. But like, this is a guy that really, I noticed when I was watching ACC defensive players last year. And then when I put on the film, kind of like you said, it's just, okay, yeah, this guy's, this guy's pretty good. He might not have an elite arm. None of his physical traits are elite, but he is good enough across the board. He's accurate. He's efficient.

he seems to have an instinctive feel for what he's doing. He doesn't, for lack of a better term, piss his pants. When the rush comes in, he knows what to do. He has an escape at all times. And so, yeah, I can't wait to watch more of him. In the opener, opening weekend, Duke has a very talented Clemson defense. So that's going to be a lot of fun to see right off the back. You know, what type of next step does he take?

Because I'm with you. I think he's right there in that space. second tier behind the first two as, you know, could be a first round player, could be a guy that, you know, teams give starting grades to. He is a, he's a fun player to talk about. Yeah, I probably have, to kind of put in context, probably the same grade on him as I have, or had on Will Levis last year. Okay.

Where it's kind of that borderline fringe, like late first round, early second, half grade inflation might bump up. Will Levis went to the second, so it's funny enough. but but I'm saying that I think there could be a bump up even further from that Lev is kind of stagnated as we all know but I think that's where I'm at kind of the same kind of spot with him kind of yeah really like to watch him now I think his name is kind of starting to you know get a little noise behind it I want people to watch Duke this year because they have a fun offense alignment as well so it's it's an interesting team they're really well

coach but all right we've mentioned four guys now uh who else you highlighted I believe six in your article but I would say who kind of kind of rounds out your top five. Well, I want to hear who pass McCarthy for you, uh, as that as that quarterback for. Who is that? It was, I couldn't believe it. It was Quinn Ewer's. And it was, and I'm great to the flash with him. And that that's kind of, I think that's not shocking anyone. That's his whole game. It's just great to the flash. He's a little frustrating for me. I, uh, those guys, him and McCarthy, I gave kind of late, like late second, early third kind of grades to, but like, arrows pointing up. I want to see more out of them. So that was, that's my, how my,

top five goes. So it would be May Williams, Leonard, like May Williams, easy top 10 grades. Lender kind of late first grade, then Ewer's McCarthy, kind of that late second grade, but with arrows pointing up. But then, I mean, there's another crop of guys that I would consider in that tier as Ewers and McCarthy. So that's why I kind of want to hear who else you have up there as well. So maybe I can crib some of your notes as well of some of the guys I might have to keep an eye on that that might be like honorable mention, maybe top five, top six or even top seven if you want to throw that out there. Yeah, well, URs was my quarterback five. But I agree with what you're saying.

Like he could easily end up being quarterback three. I mean, he's ready to take the jump. I mean, we have to factor in the flashes we saw last year, which was really his freshman season. I mean, we have to remember he reclassified to basically skip his senior year of high school. Goes to Ohio State where he, you know, sat the bench behind C.J. Stroud, unsurprisingly, decides to transfer, goes to Texas last year. and you saw the flashes basically as a freshman out there.

So he's going to be a sophomore this year. Technically, he's only 20 still. Right. He's a young. You know, he's, this will be his first, he just finished his first full offseason in Austin. When you have Steve Sarkeesian, this is kind of maybe the opposite of J.G. McCarthy where they're going to let Quinn Ewer's throw it around. You look at the sporting cast that he has, Xavier worthy, deep threat.

He's kind of the- Four or five receivers that are. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Xavier Worthy, think Hollywood Brown, you know, those types of vibes. Jordan Whittington's probably the most consistent catcher, ball catcher of the group. He's a potential draft pick on day three. They bring an A.D. Mitchell from Georgia, size speed freak.

I like Isaiah Nayer, who's another guy that could be drafted. And then I know you like Casey Kane. And so they are deep at receiver. And that's not even including Jatavion Sanders. I was going to say tight end prospects in the country. he's going to see a healthy share of targets this year. So you factor in that, you factor in the offensive line is strong. Now it's up to yours to take that next step.

He has an awesome arm. He can change his arm angles. He can anticipate. It's just a matter of feel, something that we saw from Caleb. We saw from Drake May last year. But we have not seen it from Quinn on a consistent basis yet where he understands where to find all of those solutions to the problem

that the defense throws at them. So will we see more of that this year? I can't wait to find out. Going to Tuscaloosa early in the year to face Alabama, that'll be a lot of fun. So that was my quarterback five. Quarterback six for me was Bo Nix, who, you know, Oregon quarterback,

could have came out and would have been a day two draft pick, decided to go back to school, Auburn transfer, but it didn't look anything like the Auburn quarterback we saw. No, he did not. I mean, he was off my radar completely. I had committed on my, like, I never have to study this guy.

It's like, oh, I do have to study him. He's actually not bad. That's it. Yeah. I mean, he was accurate, especially over the middle of the field. I mean, he was really consistent sliding, climbing the pocket, did a nice job down the field with touch. Yeah. I mean, his post routes are awesome.

One of the best post route thrower in this class. So, you know, if you had to ask me right now, who's the top senior quarterback? I think it's pretty clearly Bo Nicks out of Oregon. and we'll see what he does now in year two in that office. Loses his offensive coordinator. Dilleyham, he went to Arizona State, take the head coaching job there. But, I mean, Bo Nex, I think, has all the talent there at Oregon to continue developing and kind of putting his claim to why he should be a first-round pick.

I don't know if he'll get there where he's going to be thought of as a guy you have to take in the top 32, but he could establish himself as a top 50 guy, no doubt. He has that type of ability with a with a strong season here. He, he was a guy. I was like, really, I have to watch Bo Nix.

Okay, I'll watch them. And I watch about, I watched three games of them. And he, he grows on you. He had some, he has some real gamer to him while making some hero throws that I didn't know,

I didn't even know that he had it in his bag. Like, I didn't even, I was like, where was that for the last couple years in Auburn? And sometimes you just got to get to a fresh start. And also with a system that maybe is a little more conducive to it. But he just had like showing off his talent, like throwing stuff underneath.

Yeah, he was a guy that kind of I warmed it up too. And with Uers, I'm, I just, you watch some of the flashes. He can be frustrating. His footwork can be frustrating. But it's like, again, he just needs more live bullets. He just needs more reps. Like a lot of these guys, he's a baby. All these guys are babies.

Not Nicks, obviously, but all these other guys that we're talking about. And so that's what the year is. Also Paul Krista is there, which he's an offense analyst there now too. So I'm curious with some Sark. and Chris magic happened in Texas right now. I'm very curious to watch that offense now that I know my old mentor is there. But no, but it's Uers and everything. And with Nix, Nick's, I have no idea what to think of him. I have that. He's in that same tier for me as yours McCarthy where it's just like, okay, I'm putting a second round grade on you with an arrow.

I don't know. It might stagnate right there. But I feel like he deserves at least a chance in this league, like as some sort of role. And that's right now as we sit here in August. And I want to see him go into this next year. So any other quarterbacks? Oh, sorry. I'm Bo. I think a lot of listeners are going to roll their eyes at this.

But NFL teams and scouts really care about have you overcome adversity in your career in some shape or form. And with Bo Nix, you think about it. He was a legacy at Auburn. He, you know, flashed enough. as a freshman where you thought, okay, this guy is going to be something. But then a sophomore year wasn't good. Junior year wasn't good.

He was going the wrong way. He was declining. And part of that was the Auburn program was it going that direction with or without him. So he goes to Oregon, even with all of that on his resume. And, you know, he had the confidence to step in there, win the starting job, be the guy. And, you know, went over that locker room, went over that coaching staff. So overcoming everything that happened in Auburn to reinvent himself as a prospect, that matters in a big way to NFL teams and scouts who want to see these guys,

you know, face some of that adversity so they know what they're made of, what the makeup is. So that, again, I know that it's kind of cliche with a lot of when we talk about quarterback prospects, but NFL teams care about it. So, you know, that's worth talking about. And it matters too because a lot of these guys, like say he stayed at Auburn, he's the legacy guy and there's an, you know, just a book on him. good or bad from those guys. So you go into a fresh spot and seeing how guys act when they're humbled,

which is a very real thing in the NFL, because it's just a lot of these guys for the first time, you usually have to, like some guy coming from, I'll just say like an Ohio state or Alabama that just wins game after game or Georgia recently. They just went game after game after game after game. They have to face maybe two tough matchups at the end of the year.

I don't want to knock like SEC ball or anything, but this is just a point I'm trying to make here people. But you just, they don't ever have to face it. maybe outside of two weeks, and it's with people that they've hung out with, that they got recruited with, with coaches that love them and all that stuff. So you don't really know what actually, or how they actually act when they face some of these, you know, a lot of these guys never had to face six losses in a row. Now, some of these guys didn't have to get their, their, all their coaches

get fired after nine months after they get drafted. You know, that's, some of these guys never have to go through that. So that's a very, very important point to make. I'll kind of last, or kind of, kind of give you like another honorable mention thing here. Any other QB, outside the ones that we've talked about. Anything just to keep an eye on or any others that have known, any of that you've been, your favorite watches, maybe outside the top top couple of guys.

I'll cut by on a couple questions here today. But any other kind of honorable mentions that you want to throw in here, just, you know, fun watches or just some guy that you're like, hey, you know, there's some noise about this guy. We'll see. We'll just, you know, maybe it's a TBD at this point in time. Yeah, definitely some TBDs in this class, I think. One name we're going to hear a lot about is Joe Milton at Tennessee.

Yeah. 6-5, 240 pounds, huge arm. I mean, good bet. He'll have the strongest arm in the draft. We've already heard the anti-Ritchison comparisons because of those physical traits. But Milton doesn't have nearly the same type of speed or creativity as a runner. I don't think he has the same feel as Richardson showed in a small sample size. And, I mean, we have to remember, Richardson was a third-year sophomore, so he was really a first-year starter.

where with Milton, this is a six year in college. So I think right now he is in that mid-round conversation, but somewhere around the league are optimistic he can climb even higher. So Joe Milton definitely is a name to keep an eye on. He's an offense. I'll make them look good. That's it. Exactly.

That's part of the equation here is with that hypeball offense at Tennessee. We saw what it did for Hendon Hooker. If Milton can be even 75% of what Hendon Hooker was at Tennessee, so not quite maybe a Heisman guy like Hooker was before his injury. But if he could be 75% of that, that's going to give some NFL team the optimism that he still has room to develop, room to grow, and Milton will be a top 100 pick, easy. He is 75% headed hooker this year.

Now, can he be that? I don't know. He's playing in the SEC. That'll be, I already got that Georgia game circled on the calendar. That's going to be a lot of fun to see how he's. does up against the number one team in the nation. I want to see Devin Leary at Kentucky. We just talked about Bo Nix and what he was able to do after he transferred.

Now, Devin Leary at NC State, going to Kentucky, he'll be playing under Liam Cohen, who had a little sabbatical in the NFL, kind of to the detriment of Will Levis and his final year. But what can Leary gain from that? He's a, you got a strong arm. The last three years at NC State, I think he, you saw the flashes, but he struggled to really put together a full game. but you see why teams are optimistic about them. Some accuracy stuff that was kind of, yeah.

It's consistency for him. Yeah, yeah. But he can set up quickly. He can, you know, especially over the middle of the field, I think he works well. I think outside the numbers, that's where his accuracy falters a little bit. Spencer Rattler, I mean, it wasn't too long ago. Couldn't find a mock draft, an early mock draft without him in the top 10, right? Right.

The star has fallen off, but kind of reinvented himself a little bit last year at South Carolina. So what does he look like this year? Does he continue to take another step forward? Some of the issues with him are intangible related in terms of just the way he carries himself. How is that going to play out throughout the process? But Spencer Rattler has a lot of talent. And that's something that NFL teams, they don't shy away from rolling the dice on talent at this position. So what can he do this year to help himself?

Those are guys that I think are, those three will be in the prime conversation of the senior class. other guys that I just enjoyed watching Jordan Travis at Florida State. He's a dual threat guy who... That was a great towel by you. He was a lot of fun to watch. Florida State is going to be a fun team this year, right? They are.

Yeah, they got guys on offense. Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson at receiver. Benson, the running back is awesome. The best tackle breaker in college football. On defense, Jared Verst would have been a top 20 guy if he came out. But he has a chance to be the first senior drafted this year. So Florida State is appointment viewing this year

for if you're looking for NFL prospects. And then Michael Prata Tulane. That was a, you know, just easy guy to watch and appreciate what he does. You know, he's on time. He's accurate. He's a functional quarterback. And sometimes that's all you need at the next level is just being a functional quarterback. A lot of guys have made a long living.

Just being a functional QV. And I totally agree with you with Travis. I really enjoyed watching him. Had more IQ to him than maybe I thought. We see that type of quarterback year and year out in college football. The runaround guy that's 6-1, 200 pounds, pretty good athlete, pretty good arm, but their eyes are everywhere. His eyes were good.

He's aggressive as I'll get out. That's what I loved. That guy is a big game hunter. He's trying to throw corner shots, whole shots. He's trying to throw over the middle. It's a lot of fun. He's just a very fun football player. I said he's a Heineke type.

where he might be running around. And again, another Johnny Knoxville type, just a fun player. I really like him. I'm going to have a limit of how high I can grade him, but he's a guy that I think can maybe just stick as a runaround guy in the NFL. But I had Joe Milton as well as a guy I'm keeping an eye on. I'm also just as far as transfers. And this guy, when he first started at Clemson,

I was like, oh, wow, here's another guy. Here's another five star. And that's DJ Eugulele. I always butcher his name, but that's close enough. That was pretty good. I thought that was pretty good. I know it sounds like ukulele, so that's how I get to it. But his, that his shot, I'll talk about the shine coming off and going in that

Clemson offense that is kind of kind of fallen by the wayside. And when you don't have a Deshawn Watson or Trevor Lawrence as your QB, kind of, it's a tough offense to operate when you don't have a dude making throw after throw. So I want to see him at Oregon State. I love the coaching staff at Oregon State on both sides of the ball. I think that they'll get the most out of them. And I think he's a perfect guy to be in an under center play action type offense.

He's a classic big arm dude. So I'm just, I have an eye on him. I have no, like, I barely have a draftable grade on him off of what he's shown at Clemson. He got benched for a freshman. So Kate Klubnick, who I actually do like. But that is, that is just someone I want to keep an eye. And I'm glad he brought up Rattler because just like you said, the arm talent, that guy makes, he has a throw a game that is just S-tier rare, but it's.

It's just, you know, the in-between stuff. The second half of last year was really encouraging, though. But as we talked about the, you know, the other guys, the Caleb Williams of the world and Drake Maze of the world and talked about their intangibles and their makeup, that's what he has to prove more than anything. How was he when he came in at South Carolina? And I would say the guy. And just the fact that he went back to school. I thought that was a maybe a step in the right direction, right? You know, like he didn't bolt.

He, you know, had a little bit of success down the stretch. He said. And when they faced adversity in games, he didn't fade. That was always his thing. Once they went down two scores, he just started gone in thrown everywhere. And he actually, like, made the team better, which was really cool to see. Sorry to cut you off. No, no.

He looked himself in the mirror and said, hey, I can get better. I'm going to go back to school and I'm going to get another year under my belt and get better. And maybe that was a little bit of, you know, that self-awareness that he seemed to lack as a recruit and then in his early years. And that's what you want to see. So that's not to, you know, not to write the book on them or anything, but hopefully that's a step in the right direction. I totally agree. And the last guy I'm going to mention is Jalen Daniels from Kansas, just because I wish he was bigger because that dude's a fun football player. I love watching Kansas's offense that some of it's out necessity of how weird they have to get, but it's a very, very well-coached team and one that's really fun to watch, even if they don't have the best players.

But he really makes them go and he can make some real throws. And I actually have a draftable grade on him, a day three grade. but he's this guy I want to watch this year, just because I think he's just a fun football player, even if he might never get to those, you know, the next tiers that we're talking about some of these guys earlier in the show. I think that sums up exactly why,

or how deep this class is, because he's my 25th senior. 25th, right? Not just over a quarterback, just senior quarterback. But I understand why you like him. He did a lot of fun things for that Kansas offense last year. I think that, you know, he has a chance to, you know, when you do rankings this early,

it's more like tiers, right? And so, like, there's a lot of room for fluctuation as we go on. But, no, I'm glad you brought them up. And I, Washington fans already hate me because I haven't been. Oh, yeah, we haven't mentioned Pennix. Yeah, I haven't been sky high on their guys throughout the summer. Yeah. But, you know, Mike, I do want to mention Michael Pennock real quick because he is a draftable quarterback.

He's just not that slam dunk top 100 pick that, you know, a lot of people want to make them out to be. But, you know, part of that's the injury stuff, right? He had a lot of injuries. Had a really good year last year. He has the arm strength that sling the ball all over the field. He throws a catchable ball. Mechanics are all over the place. He overstrives a lot.

Yes, that's the number one. He'll overstrived like crazy, especially when he's thrown outside. And he still, he'll make some throws every game that he knows he shouldn't make, but he still tries it. And, you know, he just kind of that, that yolo stuff where I'm just going to see what happens. So the ball placement and decisions just need to be more precise, more consistent if Pennex is going to have an NFL career. But another guy who came back for his senior year. Another transfer.

Yeah, he's got receivers there. So we'll see what that Washington offense should be a good one this year, really productive. And so Pennix is a big part of that. So it would be fun to watch him see what improvements he makes. They're a fun team. And I even like the edge that they have. Yeah, Braylon tries. Yeah.

Trice. Yep, Obie Trice. The, yeah. But the one receiver number, number one, is it? A Dunsey? A Dunsey. A Dunsey. The other one is McMillan.

McMillan. Yeah, they've got a couple guys on that offense. In relation to Nate, Nate McMillan? A long time Seattle. I don't think so, but I don't know. I don't think it is. It was the first thing I looked up. I was like, oh, Washington, McMillan, maybe.

But I don't think he was. I think he was from California or something. But Adonzie, I actually don't have him as like a first round grade but just getting ahead of myself but i i liked him because he was he's he has a power slot maybe down the road he digs out some of those safeties so that was like the one guy but he's not maybe the sexiest player for a guy that's got some hype so i'm with you on at that i kind of i liked him but maybe didn't love any of those washington guys and i'm i'm with you on panics i thought some of his mechanic stuff was like you mentioned the overstriading i you see that all the time the not listening to

his feet which is the no no no no no no no yes throws or the no no no no no no no no why'd you do that throws? And for a guy that has so much experience, that's a little more worrisome than maybe a guy that only has 10 starts under his belt. So that's where you have to kind of take all those kind of variables and put them in there. I look him as a day three guy. I like them.

But just, you know, I'm right there with you, though, that I just couldn't get around on him, even if I wanted to. And I watched plenty of games of Washington because they have plenty of draftable guys. And all the feedback I got from NFL people was third to fifth round. So it's not like we're just, you know, killing the kid here. Like that's how the NFL views him right now, where we are in August, the feedback was all in that third to fifth round range. Great. Makes me.

Makes you feel better. Every once in a while, I just like, you see, you see some of the public facing analysis. And you're like, huh. Yeah. Am I? It's the principal Skinner meme. Am I the one that's wrong? Right.

Right. Am I out of touch? But no, Dane, this was, this was a great, a very fun inaugural episode. I guess always this iteration of this version of Van Halen. This was a very, very fun episode. I'm so glad that we get to do this and we get to do this all year. Every week, it'll be coming out on Wednesdays. It'll be back out next Wednesday.

So be on the lookout for that. And Dane, thank you so much again for joining me. This is going to be a lot of fun this year. And yeah, I guess here we go. We're in Training Camp, baby. Your articles are out. We're about to get that first mock draft. Oh, no, we had a two early mock draft.

Yeah, got to get that first big work coming out. Yeah, top 50 coming up here. few weeks. That'll be something that I put a lot of time into. That's always fun. No, this is great. This is, this is,

this is a lot of fun as we kind of do this each week and I'm eager to get your perspective and it'd be fun, you know, prospects, pros, doing both of it on the show. It'll be fun. It will be great. But no, thank you all for joining us and we'll see you guys next time. This was the athletic football show's prospects to pros podcast.